A young butcher in Huaiyin insulted Han Xin in the market. “You are tall and like to carry a sword, but inside you are a coward.” In front of a crowd he said: “If you are not afraid to die, stab me. If you are, crawl between my legs.” Han Xin looked at him for a long time. Then he bent down and crawled between his legs. The whole market laughed at him as a coward.
Years later, as King of Chu, Han Xin sent for the young man and made him an officer. He told his generals: “This is a brave man. When he insulted me, could I not have killed him? Killing him would have brought me no name. So I endured it, and came to where I am.”